Evening capital. (Annapolis, Md.) 1884-1910, 1887-08-26
Freneh Spolialton Claims.

failure to pay to the citizens OF the
country their claims for French
Spoliation. These claims orlginat-
cd prior to the treaty of September
50. 1900, aud practically the money
has been in the Treasury since the
date of this treaty. When the trea-
ty was submitted to Bonaparte, First
Consul of the French Republic, he
incorporated in it these words
1.-The United States. having added
to its ratification that the conyen-
ton should be in force for eight
years, and having omitted the Sec
ond article, the government of
the French Republic consents to
accept, ratify, and confirm the above
convention, with the retrenchment of
of the second article: Provided, that
by this retrenchment, the two states
renounce the respective pretensious
which are the object of the said ar
ticle.''
This was on the 31st of July
1901 and the French ratification be-
ing thus conditioned was neverthe-
less exchanged at Paris on that day
and assented to by the u. S. COM
missoners. The second article was
as follows .'Thc ministers of the
two parties, not being able at pres
e1tt to agree, respecting the treaty
of allegiance of 1898, and the treaty
of ami,y and commerce of the sam e
date, and the convention of 1888,
nor upon the indemnities mutually
claimed, the parties will negotiate
further on these subjects ut a cor
venient time" etc.
The treaty with the proviso Of
the First Consul was ratified by the
L. S. Senate on Dec. 10Th 1901.
The constitution of the u. s. in
the fifth article of the amendments
provides "Nor shall private prop
erty be taken for public use without
just compensation :"
Here it is plainly shown that no
account of indemnity due to France
by the United States, that the Unit
ed States agreed to Offset it, with
the claim of her citizens against
France thereby converting private
property to public use. Notwith-
standing the fact that this money
has been in the U. s. Treasury
since 1900 or 1901, not one cent
has been paid to the parties to whom
it is due. Papers were filed with
the proper departments showing
that SIX hundred aud fifteen vessels
of American citizens had been un-
lawfully seized and confiscated.
Referring to the appropriations
of private funds for a public debt
and to the provision in the consti-
tuition, Dan'l. Webster said "This
being so, it is difficult to see how
the Government of the United States
can release these claims for its own
benefit, with any more propriety
than it could have applied the mon
ey to its own use if the French gov
ernment had made a compensation
/, in money" To meet the demands
of France and to restore harmony
between the two nations, the Unit
ed States did relinquish these claims
of her citizens. In other words she
, purchased harmonious relations
with other peoples money.
Referring therefore to our orig
inal proposition that this is stig-
ma on cur country, we appeal to
our representatives in Congress to
spare no means to get an appropria-
ton at its next session to pay these
claims; and if strict justice were
done the interest as well as the
principal should be paid. 1t may
seem too early to begin the discus
sion of these matters now, but we
do it thus early that men may have
time to reflect on it, and will fol-
low it up again when Congress as
sembles. The payment is a simple
act of justioe-the payment a